The Ba’al Shem Tov: A Life of Ecstasy
Who was Rabbi Yisra’el ben Eli‘ezer of Mezhbizh (d. 1760), the legendary “founder” and protean creator of Hasidism? Categories melt before the heat of his religious personality. His innumerable followers and students sparked a popular revivalist movement, an explosive spiritual force that has shaped the face of modern Jewish life in countless ways. His image has commanded the attention of historians, scholars, artists, storytellers, and spiritual seekers for nearly three centuries. His legacy has become, in the hands of some latter-day disciples and descendants, a rallying cry in the bitter political fight against secularization, progress, and modernity. But the individual at the heart of it all remains enigmatic, a creative religious mind shrouded in mystery. The present class seeks to explore the teachings and memory of this complicated and electrifying religious leader, who planted the hardy seeds that grew into the most successful and influential movement of Jewish mystical renewal of all time.
